Central Kalaripayattu (Madhya)
Central style of kalaripayattu, one of three styles recognised by the Kerala association. According to Zarrilli it adds techniques in a rice-flour drawing and steps in five circles.
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About Central Kalaripayattu (Madhya)
The central style of kalaripayattu is one of three styles that, according to Phillip Zarrilli in Green's encyclopedia of martial arts, the Kerala Kalaripayattu Association officially recognises, alongside the northern and southern ones. The name madhya, meaning central, comes from English Wikipedia, while Zarrilli writes of a central style. He gives no founder or date of origin and treats the central style only briefly. In another article of the same encyclopedia he moreover describes only a twofold division: kalaripayattu, which survived mainly in central and northern Kerala, came to be called the northern style after 1958.
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Besides northern-style techniques, the central style has, according to Zarrilli, its own techniques performed inside a rice-flour drawing on the floor of the kalari, called kalam. Special steps for attack and defence are taught in a pattern of five circles, so the practitioner moves in triangles, or zigzag. Some masters of the central style teach cumattadi, sequences of steps and strikes derived from certain animal poses and performed in four directions, which teach reacting to an attack from any side. A peer-reviewed article by Shivshankar Rajmohan in Martial Arts Studies (2026) cites Vijayakumar (2000), according to whom a distinct form of kalaripayattu called Otimurisseri was practised in central Kerala. At association competitions, according to Zarrilli, winners are declared in only two styles, and the mixed school syllabus of 2012 likewise combined only the northern and southern styles. It is a poorly described style and we are still looking for reliable sources on it.
History
In Green's encyclopedia Martial Arts of the World, Phillip Zarrilli writes that the Kerala Kalaripayattu Association officially recognises three styles of kalaripayattu according to the approximate area they come from: northern, central and southern. He deals with the central style only briefly and gives neither its founder, its date of origin, nor a separate history. In the article on India in the same encyclopedia he describes only a twofold division after 1958: Tamil forms began to be called the southern style, and kalaripayattu itself, which survived mainly in central and northern Kerala, the northern style. In the Journal of Asian Martial Arts (1992) Zarrilli adds that styles traditionally practised in the north in the kalari in a pit also occur in southern and central Kerala.
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A peer-reviewed article by Shivshankar Rajmohan in Martial Arts Studies (2026) cites Vijayakumar (2000), according to whom a distinct form of kalaripayattu called Otimurisseri was practised in the central areas of Kerala, whereas in the north Arappukai, Pillathaangi and Vattenthirippu were practised and in the south Dronamballi. English Wikipedia calls the central style Madhya Kalari or Madhya Sampradayam and describes it as a style composed of the northern and southern forms. The Kerala government's tourism website lists two styles and only notes that, according to some, a central Kerala style exists.
Technique
Besides the techniques of the northern style, the central style includes, according to Zarrilli, distinctive techniques performed inside drawings made of rice flour on the floor of the kalari, called kalam. Special steps for attack and defence are taught in a pattern of five circles, so the practitioner moves in triangles, or zigzag. Some masters of the central style teach cumattadi, sequences of steps and strikes derived from certain animal poses and performed in four directions, which teach reacting to attacks from all sides. English Wikipedia states that the central style stresses the strength of the lower half of the body and speed, and that before weapons the chuvadu steps and the meypayattu body exercises are practised.
Today
At the annual district and state competitions of the Kerala Kalaripayattu Association, according to Zarrilli overall winners are declared in two styles, northern and southern, and he mentions no separate category for the central style. The mixed school syllabus that the associations and the Kerala State Sports Council drew up in 2012 likewise combined, according to The New Indian Express, only the southern and northern styles. English Wikipedia says the central style is practised less than the northern and southern ones.
Did you know
The travel magazine Outlook Traveller places the central style roughly around Kochi and writes that it practises footwork and lower-body conditioning longer before the student may handle a weapon.
Frequently asked questions
How many styles of kalaripayattu are distinguished?
According to Phillip Zarrilli, the Kerala Kalaripayattu Association officially recognises three styles: northern, central and southern. At competitions, however, winners are declared in only two, northern and southern.
What characterises the central style of kalaripayattu?
According to Zarrilli, techniques performed inside a rice-flour drawing called kalam and steps in a pattern of five circles, in which the practitioner moves in triangles.
What is cumattadi?
Sequences of steps and strikes derived from animal poses and performed in four directions. According to Zarrilli, some masters of the central style teach them.
Similar styles
Selected by overlap in the style profile, not by historical lineage.